Atiku’s Decision to run, “A Rude Shock”
When some of us heard about the return of Atiku Abubakar to the People's Democratic Party (PDP), we were happy that he can come to help rebuild the house he once threatened to sweep away from the political space of Nigeria having armed himself and his followers with tonnes of brooms with which they planned to use for the sweeping of Nigeria.
Clearly not used to menial jobs such as sweeping and having being accustomed to the good life provided by the billions he has made from his 'fortunate investments' and handsome gifts provided by top international companies, Atiku Abubakar has let go of the broom and returned to the shelter provided by the PDP umbrella.
The question is. what is it about the broom that made Atiku uncomfortable? Are the volatile contents of his statements now part of a larger scheme to see to the implosion of the PDP – destroy it from the inside and then go back for the broom?
What is it about the PDP that Atiku is not telling us? Is he saying that it is not possible to be President without being a member of the PDP? If so, then why did he fight so hard to destroy the party in 2003?
When he quoted Franz Fanon last week, was he referring to the fact that those who make peaceful sweeping impossible could be inviting violent sweeping?
The shock wave that ran through most of us was intense. Some of us felt that Atiku Abubakar would come face to face to Nigerians and explain the various accusations that his former boss Obasanjo and the EFCC hurled at him.
We thought he would come back to Nigerians and explain how all those millions of US dollars got into the account of his wife Jennifer Atiku while she was in the United States of America.
We thought he would explain to us the kind of dealings that his wife had with Siemens AG that warranted the deposition of more than two million dollars ($2m) in her American Bank account.
Yesterday he was with the broom. Today he is seeking shelter under the umbrella. What could he be doing tomorrow? Maybe he will be with a shovel trying to dig a grave for Nigeria and Nigerians.
Desperate leaders cannot be trusted.
For a man who has turned out to be the most disloyal Vice President of the Nigerian State, Nigerians must beware. The increasing tone of desperation in his recent comments show the state of a man who can resort to just anything just to get a shot at the presidency.
Recently, while responding to questions from media executives at the Golden Gate Restaurant in Ikoyi on why he was so desperate to be president, he responded that he was not desperate for anything whether it be 2011 or any other.
He went on to say that he had never been desperate for anything. He then added “If I had been desperate, I would not have stepped down for Abiola in 1992 OR allowed Obasanjo to be President”.
Such reckless arrogance coming after a session of reckless rhetoric, makes me wonder what on earth could be wrong with this Atiku fellow.
There are those who believe that Atiku's increasing arrogance and reckless rhetoric could be the result of the failure of the Nigerian State and its anti-corruption machinery to rope-in corrupt leaders hence a tendency of these so-called untouchables' leaders to arrogate to themselves, the right to rule Nigeria by any means necessary.
One wonders why in spite of the reports of the millions of dollars that were reportedly siphoned into the accounts of his then US-based wife Jennifer Atiku most of which were wired from Nigeria and others from US-based companies like Siemen AG etc, no government or international agency has bothered to ask questions on why so much money was wired of out Nigeria in such a short space of time.
Do such allegations fall outside the mandate of the EFCC or Interpol? Or was Atiku Abubakar just too smart to be caught?
What is most intriguing is the fact that even Siemens AG has acknowledged that they paid in millions of US dollars into Mrs Jennifer Atiku's account in the United States. So what is no one investigating this matter?
Why is Siemens AG not being called up to explain why they paid so much money into Atiku's wife's account? Was it bribe money? Was it money for influence peddling?
Any wonder then when Atiku Abubakar suddenly wakes up to say that “Nigeria is broke”?
There are too many question marks on Atiku's head. I wonder who can provide the answers.
George Kerley
“The Jonathan Project”
Web: www.thejonathanproject.info